§ David DavisTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what differences there are in the amounts that rural and urban areas received for gifted pupils; and what the reasons are for the differences. [138385]
§ Mr. MilibandThe majority of dedicated funding for gifted and talented education is made available through Excellence in Cities, including Excellence Clusters and Aim Higher. These programmes are targeted at areas of greatest deprivation which are concentrated in urban areas although not exclusively so. Each area receives only a notional allocation for work on gifted and talented education. It is for the local partnership or cluster to decide how much to spend on this, relative to other dimensions of their programme.
Local education authorities and schools can also use funding from other sources for gifted and talented education, and choose whether or not to take up a range of national resources available to them. These decisions are influenced by a variety of local priorities and needs.